


doesn't feel the same (doesn't have to)

by boreing



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, all they did in the 80s was listen to michael jackson and watch star wars right, and mike/eleven, and will/lucas, im sorry, more fluff than angst tho, the extent of my 80s references are some musicians and star wars, this is p gen but there are some parts that imply mike/will
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-02
Updated: 2016-09-02
Packaged: 2018-08-12 16:25:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7941265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boreing/pseuds/boreing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Coming to terms with the fact that life won't be like how it used to be is hard, but Will has friends that are powerful in their abilities to make everything feel better.</p><p>(or somewhat au where will doesn't have any lasting physical effects of the upside down and eleven never left and the kids have to make a new normal out of the situation)</p>
            </blockquote>





	doesn't feel the same (doesn't have to)

**Author's Note:**

> ok sO i dont think i wrote will's recovery very well?? like i probably should've wrote more about how the trauma affects his every day life but i love fluff rip mayb one day i will edit this
> 
> also some ideas got snatched from aanathemaa on tumblr ok shes great at will and mike/will stuff
> 
> i want to write more i think. i want to explore will's relationships with people and school people (like jennifer hayes aka how does this gay kid tell this girl he isnt interested nicely) and also!!! i wanted new year's!!! i almost wrote it in but then i didn't feel like it lol. it would prob be angsty tho. maybe i'll turn these into oneshots idk
> 
> im sorry if this sucks i wrote in the 2 days ive been rlly sick

It takes a month before things start feeling somewhat normal again.

 

Even then, it isn't the way things used to be. New normal is learning to live with the ever present fear that the pain isn't over and another monster is just around the corner that everyone feels. New normal is adjusting to going back to school where the kids look at everyone (though especially Will) weird, like they're not sure whether to comfort, tease, or run away from them. New normal is never being alone.

 

Will always loved spending time with his friends and family, but he also liked his alone time, time where he listened to music while reading comics or drawing. Now he doesn't. Now he hates being alone. He feels a little embarrassed about it, but he can't help but love the comfort of feeling protected in small groups of trusted people.

 

He even shares a room with Johnathan now. Not that it was a deliberate choice on his part, more of making room for Eleven so she doesn't have to room with a boy after the Byers officially unofficially adopter her. That's still a problem, they can't really just be harboring this unregistered child, and Joyce very much wants the girl to be able to go to school and have a normal life, but they're also worried about her being taken away. So, for now, they've stuck a pin in it. To be dealt with later.

 

Now that Will has spent time with Eleven he can definitively say that she is the only good thing to come out of the whole ordeal.

 

He'd once said around his friends that he'd always wanted a sister, and Mike immediately whipped around to him and listed at least 20 reasons on why _no, you do not want a sister they're horrible, be happy with the one brother you have_. But now that Eleven is kind of like Will's sister he doesn't know why Mike complains all the time.

 

Eleven doesn't like being alone all that much either, so more than once the Byers set up a pillow fort in the living room and slept in a big group together. Even Eleven, who is still not totally comfortable with touch, allowed them to cuddle with her a little bit. And when Will wakes up from another nightmare he immediately feels his family so close to him and it helps remind him that he's _safe_ and _not in the upside down._

 

He spends an unprecedented amount of time with his friends, too. He kind of feels bad for Johnathan, who has to drive them everywhere, but he doesn't seem to mind much.

 

Will didn't know if the dynamic would shift in the group with the newest addition of El on top of everything they went through, but it doesn't really. They still play DnD and talk about comics and bicker the same as they used to. Now they're not rough at all with Will though. They never playfully hit him as hard as they did to each other, but now they treat him like he's made of glass. Once, Dustin even lightly slapped his arm on instinct, and then he _apologized,_ looking like he had just kicked a puppy.

 

Oh, and it's impossible to miss those long looks Mike and El have with each other, where they smile and blush a little. Every time the boys catch them doing this they make loud gagging noises. Every time they do this Will feels like gagging. He doesn't know why.

 

 

School is weird. People aren't necessarily _nicer_ to Will after the whole experience, but they avoid him and he takes that graciously. Even Troy and James, but he's worried about how long that will last. As terrified of El the two boys are, Troy is also seriously pissed about what happened. The boys told Will the stories of El saving them many times.

 

Once, Troy bumped into him in the hallway and Will thinks he says something, but if he did he said it too quietly for any of them to hear.

 

(Still, Will is weary. He tries to steer clear of people who pull out switchblades and try to make his best friend jump off cliffs.)

 

 

 

Christmas is Will's favorite holiday, so when it comes and he doesn't feel excited as he should be, or how he used to be, it's worrying. He tries to act as cheerful as he can, but he was already doing that.

 

It all sends him to one night where he sits in his backyard, alone for the first time in seemingly forever, back against the steady wall of his house, where he just cries and cries.

 

He should be happy. And he is. But he shouldn't be happy and sad. He should be more excited, less tired. He hates that he feels scared all the time. He hates that he can't ride his bike, or go back to Castle Byers. He hates that he has to lie and say everything is fine all the time. He hates that sometimes (but a little more than just sometimes) when he wakes up he feels like he can't move and all he sees is the upside down covering every inch of what used to be home. He hates that the naive feeling of constant safety was taken from him.

 

He goes back inside when he feels too cold and wonders about Eleven. Does she feel the same? Is she happy sad like him? He knows she flinches away from touch instinctively still, and that certain things trigger her so she freaks out, and that she does have nightmares, she's just very quiet about them.

 

He was only in the upside down for a week, he shouldn't be this messed up. El has been a prisoner her own life, he can't even imagine what her head must be like.

 

Will kind of wants to talk to her about all of it, about how she feels. She might be the only one who can understand his feelings. He wonders if she would want to talk too.

 

 

 

When it snows they make a day out of it.

 

First, they have to explain snow to El, which is harder than they thought it would be, and they even call over Nancy to help explain the concept.

 

Then they go outside and try and demonstrate to El all the fun stuff you can do in the snow, She got bored of the snowman pretty quickly, but she loved the snow angels.

 

War begins when Lucas slams a handful of snow in Dustin's face. After that it's a big snowball fight. What Will lacks in ability to aim, he makes up for in sneakiness as he's able to sneak up behind Mike and pours a bunch of snow down the back of his jacket. The second he recovers he chases after Will, but El uses her powers get him in the face with a snowball.

 

Yeah, having a sister is great.

 

When they get too cold to stand it they go inside and drink hot cocoa and eat cookies and watch Star Wars for the thousandth time. Just like they used to.

 

 

 

For Christmas the group decides to do secret Santa, but everyone gets a gift for El.

 

Will gets Mike and he draws him a picture. He couldn't afford anything else, which made him feel bad because if he could he would get Mike a rare comic book, or an action figure, or even an Atari. He wishes he had enough money to get him anything he wanted, but he he doesn't so a drawing is the best, and he decides it's going to be the best drawing he can possibly do.

 

The second he puts crayon on paper he realizes he hasn't drawn anything since he got back. He then remembers how much he loves drawing.

 

It's like he doesn't have to think about anything but the drawing. It's so calming, even when it's frustrating and he has to start over for the fifth time.

 

Once he finally does a version he's proud of he shows his mom.

 

“Oh honey, it's amazing. Mike's gonna love it,” she says as she stops cooking to look, wrapping an arm around her son's shoulders.

 

He smiles up at her, and then shows El who looked a little left out, but only after she promises not to tell Mike. She smiles and says, “good,” and since he's pretty sure she doesn't know how to lie he takes it as a good sign.

 

His love for drawing effectively rekindled, he decides to surprise everyone and give them drawings too. It's the most peaceful he's felt in a long time.

 

On Christmas he gives Mike and everyone the drawings. They all thank him and Mike says he's hanging it on his wall. Mike has other drawings Will had given him, all based on DnD games, neatly kept in a folder for safekeeping, but this one feels special.

 

Lucas picked Will for secret Santa, and he made him a mixtape. He gives it to him while Dustin and Mike bickered over Mike giving him a Star Wars figurine he already had.

 

“It has some songs you might like. Or, I don't know, you're music taste is weird. I put some Prince, Michael Jackson, and Bowie on it. And if you hate it ―”

 

He doesn't get to finish what he's saying because Will jumps out his seat to awkwardly hug Lucas, who's still sitting down.

 

“Thanks,” Will says, hoping the message gets across of how much he appreciates his gift. Lucas laughs a little and gets an arm around the other boy to try and hug him back despite the weird position.

 

Dustin and Mike see the hug, and, despite having no idea what the reason for the hug is, decide to get in on it. The weight of two more people is more than the chair (and Lucas) can take and they all fall onto the ground in a pile of snorting laughter. El, who's watching the chaos go down from sidelines laughs harder than she thinks she ever has in her life.

 

In that moment, Will is feeling more happy than sad, and he thinks that's all he could have ever wanted.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](https://johnathanbyres.tumblr.com)


End file.
